Meanwhile, over at tech 'zine InfoWorld, Robert X. Cringely takes notice of BRAD BLOG's exposé from earlier this week, on the man Sequoia Voting Systems is paying to "independently" review their failed AVC Advantage touch-screen machines (the ones that failed in NJ recently, but which are still set for use in the upcoming, crucial PA primary). He was as amused/horrified at whom they'd hired, instead of the actually qualified computer science professors at Princeton University whom Sequoia had threatened with legal action, should they dare a real examination of the company's faulty machines.

While I was digging through the Net looking for the skinny on Sequoia Voting Systems and its mystery contractor Kwaidan Consulting (aka Mike Gibbons), the Bradblog's Brad Friedman was doing the same. He managed to unearth a cached version of Gibbons' MySpace page that's just a wee bit different than the current model. Instead of a photo of Gibbons shaking hands with Bush I, this one shows a good-old-boy leaning against the hood of a pickup. The list of people Gibbons wants to meet has changed too. Instead of Jesus, Einstein, and Newton, Gibbons was looking for “a well endowed blonde nymphomaniac ... that likes to be under the influence of Jim Beam whiskey in a dimly lit room at least 3 times a week.” (Hmm, Jesus or a busty nymphomaniac – that's a tough call.) It's nice to know the gatekeepers of our electoral system go shopping for their code experts in New Orleans bordellos.

One small thought in response to the good Cringely here. Sequoia are not the "gate-keepers," they just think they are, and therein lie the problems. He, we, and you are the gate-keepers. And until now, we've failed horribly to keep the crooks and liars --- like the folks at Sequoia and Diebold and ES&S and Hart InterCivic (take a look at that report please Robert, and the stunning complaint downloadable with it!) --- outside of those gates.

By the way, with the crush of other news elsewhere, and even at The BRAD BLOG this week, our rather jaw-dropping report on Gibbons (even if we say so ourselves) was largely overlooked out there by the CMSM and even the blogosphere. These stories --- the embarrassing Gibbons/Kwaidan report, the remarkable federal fraud case against Hart, and all the others here --- don't spread themselves around. Please do not misunderestimate the importance of your DIGGING, REDDIT-ing, and otherwise emailing and linking up to these stories far and wide. Notifying your local media about them (include the URL when you email them), can make all the difference.

We're doing our part, and appreciate whatever hand you can lend in return. It matters.

As we often say, this democracy ain't gonna save itself. And the gates ain't gonna keep themselves, either.

Please support The BRAD BLOG's Fund Drive and our continuing coverage of your election system, as found nowhere else. Click here for a number of cool new collector's edition Premium products now available for new contributors!

Apparently, I think you have to be a fan of The Hulk comic books/movies to figure this one out.

"There was a good joke in the name of The Kwaidan Corporation but you had to be a real hardcore movie buff to pick up on it. "Kwaidan" was the name of Chinese movie composed of five separate ghost stories. The Kwaidan Corporation was composed of five separate divisions that were no more than elaborate fronts or ‘ghosts’ to hide the true purpose of The Kwaidan Corporation."

Faculty:
Miriam R. Boudreaux is currently the President of
Mireaux, Inc., a Quality Management Consulting firm, providing con-
sulting services in Quality Management and helping companies
achieve and maintain ISO 9001, TL 9000, QS-9000 and other related
standards. Miriam previously held the position of Corporate Quality
Director at Suntron Corporation (formerly K*Tec Electronics) responsi-
ble for the Quality Management System at the Texas and California facilities.

If I double up on this stuff, let me know Molly and Socrates, my memory is pretty short lately

It can be tough not to "double up" once in a while. When I first started here, I was spamming about Hertzberg too much. It wasn't done on purpose, I just didn't yet fully understand the rules here.

And the rules make perfect sense.

This place gets a lot of views. I am sure there are tons more anonymous folks out there watching our collective backs. This connecting of dots can be contagious. We the people have the power of numbers and should utilize that strength as much as possible. Take care.

Since those addicted to Brad's blog, and since Brad himself has become such a great elections expert, where is your voting system? If you're this bright and know all about what's wrong with all of the "evil" voting machine manufacturers, why not build that better mouse trap? It seems that the energy devoted to attacking others might just be better employed in developing a "better system.".....

To wit: In the past fews weeks a pair of publicly held EMS firms have announced insider buyouts. Suntron, the defense specialist, is being taken private by Thayer-Blum Funding, the equity firm that already holds 90% of the company’s stock.

The information above provided by Floridiot about the name of Kwaidan being an inside joke related to Hulk comic books/movies supports my long-held suspicion that the electronic election technology industry is seriously spook-infested. We have read of our CIA and other government agencies (OGA) rigging or attempting to manipulate the elections of foreign governments.

We need to consider the likelihood that their sights have been turned on our own government as they have so much better access to its election machinery, thanks to the enablers in our Congress, so many of who have been shown to be extremely corrupt. It is my impression that Congress is spook-infested, too. A number of its members, especially those sitting on committees overseeing the CIA and other intelligence-related agencies, have been allegedly spooks themselves (David Boren and Porter Goss come to mind).

We citizens need to speak up and let our Congressional enablers to this election corruption know that it will not be tolerated any longer. If Congress takes away the citizens' primary means of peacefully expressing their will to their representatives (by the ballot) they leave little room for citizens to bring about necessary change except by taking more extreme actions like what happened during the French Revolution of about 1789.

And another thing, these fuckers that are trying to get the poor off of welfare and cut beneficial programs are nothing more than glorified welfare recipients themselves, suckling at the Government teat.
Successful Businessmen, yeah right, that company was showing losses practically every year.
The ones that monitor this blog from the Government I feel the same way about.

We citizens need to develop our own database of the criminal elite who run this country and are to be regarded as the culpable individuals to target our wrath at if all hell breaks loose in this country, economic or otherwise. To start off the list we need the addresses and personal information for figures such as David Rockefeller and Richard Mellon Scaife so we know where to look to find them.

This is admittedly speculative. However, the spooks of the black bag variety I have written about above are sometimes hidden in other government agencies than the CIA - from what I have heard and read, in the past they have been clandestinely embedded in NASA and a wide a variety of other government agencies - even in City and state police departments and other local government posts, not to mention in privately contracted "corporate" fronts.

So a person with an apparent military background could conceivably be involved in activities very far afield from what you and I consider legitimately defense-related in a military sense.

#15 ...WMR said France's elections were fixed. Mexicos as well. The Mexicans knew it and took to the streets and stayed there for some time.The guy who lost wanted decent wages and pensions for the people. That would have cut down on our problem with so many Mexicans coming here to work.You know they would rather stay home. Ireland wouldn't go for it and stored their machines. I think the CIA is behind all of it too. Largest terroist organization in the world.

This ain't nothing, a good investigative reporter (or the feebs) should really look into this.
Just for the hell of it I watched Dan Rathers report again and Googled in some sub contractors for Sequoia and ES&S. Some of the names that I've ran across around Suntron keep popping up on Google to different electronics companies that must do work for the other two.
Some may have innocently moved on, but do I think so now after this quick look around?...pfft

And I'm almost sure that it was Circuit Test that was either going to do the testing in Fla-13 before the "experts" were installed to do it, or they aided the "experts" during the test.
I only heard the name one time on the TV news down here. I remember thinking what a fuked up name for a company, real original. Sounded phony to me at the time. I didn't find the name on the net either, I thought that was strange too.

MIKE GIBBONS, 50, died on June 22, 2008. He is survived by his wife Marge and his children Krista and Drew. A Memorial Mass will be celebrated by Fr. Tommy Hopper at St Laurence Catholic Church, Chapel of Divine Mercy, on Thursday, June 26, at 7:00 PM, 3100 Sweetwater Blvd, Sugar Land, TX, 77479.
Published in the Houston Chronicle on 6/25/2008.